San Diego is known for its canyons. They are places for beauty and discovery where you can get away from your worries for a little while.
The formal description of canyon is “a deep, narrow valley with steep sides.” The word “canyon” comes from the Spanish cañon, which means tube or pipe. The narrow valley has steep cliff walls, cut into the Earth by running water, often having a stream at the bottom. Water erosion builds these canyons over a long period of time, often millions of years.
Ponder about that as you hike Switzer Canyon. Located to the east of Balboa Park and serving as a boundary between North Park and South Park, Switzer Canyon is one of San Diego’s largest canyons, traversing nearly 6,500 linear feet. That gives lots of room for birds and animals. Stop, listen and look for Cedar Waxwings, woodpeckers, raptors such as the Red-shouldered Hawk—and the California Gnatcatcher, a threatened species. More often than not, you will hear the screech and song of birds long before you’ll ever spot them, if ever. The diversity of trees and shrubs is massive within this canyon, giving shelter to newly fledged and fantastically happy birds, such as the ubiquitous House Finches.
On the very warm afternoon that my husband and I explored Switzer Canyon, we went to 28th and Maple Street, the connector trail of the canyon just south of Bird Park. As soon as we began our descent into the canyon, we were struck by the contrast of native plants surrounding us with the perfect green of the adjoining Balboa Park Golf Course.
The trail goes about half a mile down, the golf course prohibiting entry into their property—unless you’re a golfer. Alongside the trail, numerous shrubs, trees and flowers awaken the senses and calm the soul. Western Honeybees dart back and forth among delicate dark pink flowers on the cactus. A graceful old California Pepper tree provides shade at the very beginning of the trail—or end—depending on if you’re going down or coming back. It was a nice relief for us as there are no other shade trees to speak of on the connector trail.
Once we finished exploring the connector trail, we looked at a map and found the other major trailhead at the end of Burlingame Street in South Park. Though old maps show a restroom and spots for parking, no such amenities existed anywhere near the gate around which we walked. But the walk down was like an exploration into a secret forest. Palm trees of an unknown age had dried up and some of their carcasses lay scattered among healthy big-leaved trees, many of which could not identify. The canopy of trees overhead towered above us.
Cobblestones on the trail made it difficult at some places to walk steadily, but most of the time, the path was unhindered by obstacles. I peered down at the interesting shapes of the water-worn cobblestones, including a big heart-shaped one. We heard and saw half a dozen young and bright red House Finches fantastically happy to be out and about in the sunshine. Just about the same place where my husband and I stopped in our tracks to listen to the eucalyptus trees “talk,” the wind causing the branches to rub against each other and squeak.
At the end of the trail, the long dry creek bed ran alongside a private residence. I stayed on the trail while my husband crept down onto the cobblestones to explore. There was a small bridge over the dry creek, most likely part of the private property.
Exploring Switzer Canyon is an experience you don’t want to miss, especially while it’s not too warm outdoors. Still, if you get overheated, on this Burlingame side of the canyon so many of the big trees provide shade under which to cool yourself and marvel in this grand oasis of birdsong.
To get more involved in upkeep of the canyon, you can join The Friends of Switzer Canyon in their cleanups, in an ongoing effort to rid the canyon of non-native plants and debris.
